


These Hard Obstacles

by BabyBottlePop



Series: Day by Day, Night by Night [8]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Ageplay, Alternate Universe, Asthma, Baby Louis, Baby Niall, Chronic Illness, Daddy Harry, Diapers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Feels, Illnesses, Infantilism, M/M, Multi, Non-Sexual Ageplay, Other, Pneumonia, bottles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 09:20:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9228581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyBottlePop/pseuds/BabyBottlePop
Summary: Seeing your baby in a hospital bed is every caregiver’s worst nightmare.Or, Louis gets pneumonia, only it causes severe complications due to his asthma.





	

Seeing your baby in a hospital bed is every caregiver’s worst nightmare.

 

Right now, it was Harry’s nightmare.

 

Louis appeared swallowed up by the bed, despite it being small and designed with classified babies in mind, with metal bars on the sides to slightly resemble a crib. The mattress was a simple white, with plain scratchy hospital sheets tucked up to the waist of Harry’s baby...his very sick little baby.

 

There was a mask over his mouth and nose, giving Louis the oxygen that his lungs desperately needed right now. There was no need for a hospital gown; Louis only wore a diaper provided by the hospital, a neutral yellow with monkeys patterned across it.

 

Oxygen mask aside, there was also an iv placed carefully in the top of Louis’ hand, giving him antibiotics and fluids. A pulse oximeter was clipped to his left ring finger, and pads were stuck on his chest and torso to monitor his heart rate.

 

To put it simply, it was beyond frightening to see Louis so fail and all hooked up to all of this equipment.

 

Harry sat as close to the metal crib as possible, gently rubbing Louis’ hand through the bars. It had been two hours now, and still Louis continued to sleep without any disturbance.  

 

Louis had been put into the care of Dr. James (Call me Greg, he had told Harry). Greg was friends with Nick, seeing as they both specialized in little care, so there was at least a small bit of comfort from that.

 

Greg had been cheerful and comforting as he’d explained Louis’ predicament to Harry.

 

“Louis has bacterial pneumonia, which explains the sudden onset of symptoms. If it had been viral you probably would have got a little more warning about its development. Our main concern right now is his oxygen level, because of the asthma. His fever is actually staying at a controllable level, which is good. We’ll set him up with antibiotics and keep a close eye on those oxygen levels.”

 

It could have been a lot worse, and Harry was well aware of that. However, he still considered it pretty bad. Something like this had never happened before. Louis had almost suffocated to death. His poor lungs weren’t strong enough to expel the gunk out, and therefore the coughing had turned so bad that the poor baby couldn’t get any air.

 

It had been hell….it was _still_ hell. Harry’s mind was a little fuzzy, but somehow he’d been able to call the emergency number. Now Louis was in the hands of one of London’s best hospitals.

 

Naturally Nick was the first one to get a call from Harry afterwards. His boyfriend had naturally called out of work, and all early morning he had been looking after Niall. Now he was at the hospital to see Louis and act as emotional support to Harry, who was on the very tip of a major breakdown. He’d also brought a bag of clothes and toiletries for Harry, and some items from Louis’ crib.

 

“Liam said he could look after Niall as long as we need him to,” Nick informed him. “But I told him I’d try to get Niall by eleven. He’s very distraught right now, he needs at least one of us. I’ve called your mum as well, and she’s on her way.”

 

“Thank you,” Harry muttered gratefully as he unfolded the fuzzy yellow blanket from Louis’ crib at home. “Let’s get this on him, poor baby doesn’t like those rough sheets.”

 

While Harry tucked the blanket around Louis and set the assortment of stuffed animals Nick had brought within the crib, Nick read over Louis’ medical chart and checked what his vitals were on the machine.

 

“Hey babe, his oxygen levels are steadily increasing. He’ll be back to himself in no time, don’t you worry.”

 

“I can’t help but worry,” Harry sniffled. “I always worry with Louis. This is the very reason why, you know?”

 

“Harry,” Nick pulled up a chair next to his boyfriend and hugged him. “You’ve had Louis for over a year and this has never happened before. Do you know how many classified babies are hospitalized from pneumonia each year, even without asthma?”

 

“His face was blue when I went in there, Nick, blue! I should have put him in my room for the night. His lungs are so fragile already from his asthma. As soon as he got a cough I should have taken him to the doctor or something. I was an idiot, Nick!”

 

“Harry, you are _not_ an idiot.”

 

“I am though!” Harry said. “Do you know what else happened? I forgot to turn on the baby monitor last night. It took Niall screaming to get my attention. If Niall hadn’t have woken up and seen Louis, he’d be dead. _Dead_! My b-baby would be-”

 

“Shh, Harry, love you have to calm down. It’s not your fault. Some caregiver’s don’t even use baby monitors, which is another reason why you’re one of the best ones out there. You also cannot think about what might have happened. What matters is the fact that you _did_ wake up, and you _did_ get to Louis in time.”

 

While Nick spoke those words, he lightly scraped his fingers through Harry’s curls, pressing light kisses to his temple and holding him tightly. He’d never seen Harry so distraught before. Harry always kept himself calm and composed, for the sake of his babies’, but now everything was coming out after being bottled up for too long.

 

“Need him t’be okay,” Harry muttered, forehead rested against Nick’s shoulder.

 

“He _will_ be okay,” Nick told him. “His breathing is much better, and the medicine is doing its job fighting the pneumonia. Louis will probably be awake sometime this afternoon. Give him some more credit Harold, when has Louis ever not been a fighter?”

 

The answer to that question was never.

 

Now, since about four in the morning, Harry had been sitting by Louis’ bedside, watching him like a hawk. Every time Louis snuffled or coughed, he was hovering over him, finger rested over the call button incase it got bad.

 

There wasn’t much need to do that though, as a nurse came in like clockwork, twice an hour, to check up on Louis. This meant making sure his diaper was dry, suctioning out his nose, and staying on top of the fluids and antibiotics.

 

Harry felt very silly, sitting there and having another person take care of his baby. He could just add it to the growing list of reasons of why he was a terrible caregiver.

 

It was half past noon, and Nick was gone now, at home with Niall. It made Harry feel better, knowing that his other baby was safe. Nick was great with both the boys, so if anyone could comfort Niall aside from Harry, it was him.

 

“I can change his nappy,” Harry offered when a new nurse who introduced herself as Carissa came in and it was revealed that Louis had messed his diaper. Diarrhea was an unfortunate symptom of pneumonia, but right now Harry couldn’t care less about the smell.

 

“I’ve got it hun,” She didn’t appear phased, cleaning the sleeping baby’s lower regions. “You look like you could use some rest. Would you like me to get a cot brought in?”

 

“Dunno if it’d be much use,” Harry sighed. “I can’t possibly sleep, not while Louis is so ill.”

 

“Wearing yourself down won’t do much good.”

 

Harry frowned. “I just want to make sure nothing happens to him.”

 

“You’re relieved of that job for now. If his heart rate or oxygen levels drop, an alarm is immediately sent to the on call nurses.” She said, and smiled kindly. “Look, I’ll get that cot sent up. You can decide whether or not you want to use it.”

 

* * *

 

Louis awoke around five in the evening. Nick was at Harry’s house with Niall and Anne, who had arrived at Harry’s house. Both were both doing their best to calm Harry’s other baby down. Hospital policy didn’t allow Niall to see Louis (not that Harry would want him to at this point in time) so naturally the baby was very upset.

 

“..Da,” Louis croaked, blue eyes welled with tears as he looked around in confusion. His voice was quiet and muffled from behind the oxygen mask, but he could still be heard faintly.

 

Harry was at Louis side in an instant, leaning over the crib to rub gentle circles on his boy’s tummy. “Hi baby boy, how are you feeling?”

 

The little could only let a whimper of confusion. Harry continued to rub his tummy, but he also reached over to press the call button for a nurse. “Don’t worry baby, everything’s okay, Daddy’s here. We’re at the hospital.”

 

Louis continued to stare groggily, teary eyed and frightened as he looked at all the scary equipment around him.

 

“Hi there sweetie!” A nurse Harry recognized as Carissa greeted the baby. “You’ve been taking a nice long nap! How do you feel, sugar?”

 

Louis stared back silently.

 

“Do you know how to count from one to ten? Show me with your fingers how uncomfortable right now, with ten fingers being a very big ouch, and no fingers being nothing at all.”

 

Louis thought about it for a moment, until a nasty, wet cough came out of nowhere. The nurse instantly sat him up so he could breathe better, and Harry went about rubbing Louis’ back gently as it wracked with the forceful coughs.

 

“Poor baby,” Carissa muttered, and then spoke to Harry. “I’m going to change his iv now, and then I’ll see what we can do to make him more comfortable. He’ll probably fall asleep again soon.”

 

The daddy felt his own eyes stinging. “O-Okay, sounds good.”

 

“Hey now,” The nurse put a slender hand on his shoulder. “He’s recovering very nicely. It’s good for him to cough up all that gunk. Better out than in, right? He’s a strong little babe.”

 

“I just hate seeing him in pain,” Harry sniffled. “Can I- I just wish I could hold him.”

 

The nurse looked thoughtful. “Leave it alone for tonight, and I’ll see what we can do about that when morning comes.”

 

* * *

 

Half an hour after Louis was asleep, he got a call from Nick.

 

“Babe, Niall’s in hysterics. Do you think you should chat with him on the phone for a few minutes?”

 

Harry felt like a shitty daddy all over again. He was evidently neglecting one baby, and he was responsible for the other one’s sickness.

 

“Of course,” Harry agreed. “I was just about to call you anyway; Louis woke up, he’s still pretty sickly. They gave him another bag of antibiotics and said he’d sleep for most of the night.”

 

Nick likely sensed the slight tremor in Harry’s voice. “It’s all alright my love, that’s wonderful news. He’ll be back to himself in no time.”

 

Harry spent almost half an hour talking to his other baby. Niall was very worried about Louis, and missed Harry a lot. It was only natural, as Harry hardly ever stayed the night away from his boys. Littles were very prone to separation anxiety, which was why they rarely attended sleepovers.

 

In the end, Niall was persuaded by Anne to make ‘green slime’ which was really just a borax recipe. Harry said goodbye and promised that they would see each other soon, and that Louis would be just fine.

  


* * *

 

 

Around six o’clock the following morning, Carissa came into the room with another nurse.

 

“I’m about to clock out hun,” She told Harry. “But first we’ll get you all set up to hold your baby, how does that sound? This is Bethany, she’ll be taking my place.”

 

Harry rubbed the remainder of sleep from his eyes, sitting up further from his position on the cot that he had finally used. “I can really hold him?”

 

“Yes, as long as you’re careful. Close contact is highly encouraged between littles and their caregivers; it provides emotional and psychological support on both ends, which in return helps with the physical healing.”

 

Carissa and the new nurse helped get Harry and Louis situated. Harry sat in a comfortable armchair next to the hospital bed. The side bars were lowered, and Louis was carefully maneuvered into his daddy’s arms. Harry felt tears of gratitude fill his eyes at the feeling of being able to hold his sweet, sick little boy.

 

“You just press the call button if you need anything,” Bethany said. “He should be waking up soon, and we can see about getting him a nice bottle for breakfast.”

 

“Thank you so much,” Harry told both nurses, who smiled and left the room.

 

Louis’ diaper was dry, his last change having been a couple of hours ago, and now he was simply swaddled in his yellow blankie.

 

For awhile Harry simply held Louis as close as he could without tampering with any of the monitoring equipment.  At half past six, Harry looked down to see two blue eyes staring up at him. Those eyes meant the world to him; Harry was beyond blessed to have two beautiful blue eyed babes.

 

“Good morning my lovely boy,” He crooned. “How are you feeling?”

 

“Daddy,” Louis croaked out. “Am I sick?”

 

As weak and feeble as Louis’ sounded, having him talk alone was a big improvement compared to last night, when he couldn’t hardly utter a word.

 

“Yes my love, you are a bit sick. But you’re getting better.”

 

Harry cupped Louis’ cheek with one hand, trying to keep him from looking at the scary hospital equipment or the iv in his hand. Louis might have been better than Niall about needles, but that didn’t meant he liked them. Shots were one thing, but an iv was something entirely different. Even if there was lots of tape covering it, Louis would be bound to ask questions.

 

“Wan’ Ni,” Louis spoke again. “Where’s Ni-Ni?”

 

“He’s with Nanna right now,” Harry said. “Nicky’s on his way to come see you.”

 

Nurse Bethany came in a few minutes later with a bottle. “Who’s hungry?” She sang, holding up the formula for both daddy and baby to see.

 

Harry made a quick trip to the bathroom while the nurse checked Louis’ monitors and ensured that he was alright. When he came back, they situated Louis into his lap again and Harry began to bottle feed him.

 

“He might not have much of an appetite yet,” Bethany warned. “But try and get him to drink what you can. Just put his mask back on once he’s finished.”

 

The nurse had been right. Louis only slowly suckled for a minute before turning his face away, burrowing into Harry’s side and closing his eyes in exhaustion.

 

Harry couldn’t really help it, he found himself crying again. He hated seeing Louis so weak. Even though Nick’s words had comforted him, the caregiver still felt at fault for letting Louis get so bad.

 

During the day leading up toward what had happened, Louis had been cranky all day. Harry just thought he was being fussy. Then he had a bit of coughing, so Harry had given him his nebulizer early and put him to bed, hoping to ward off the potential cold before it got any worse.

 

But then around three in the morning, he’d awoken by Niall’s frightened yells for ‘Daddy’. The sheer terror in his voice still gave Harry goosebumps. The baby monitor had been off, otherwise Harry probably would have realized something was wrong a lot earlier.

 

When he’d run into the room, stumbling over toys and flicking the light on, he’d been greeted with the most horrific sight that he’d ever experienced. Louis’ breath was shallow, crackling with phlegm and his chest rose up and down. His lips had been blue, face deathly pale as he clutched at his ribs.

 

Harry shuddered and quickly shut away the memory. If he’d been slow getting there, or if Niall had never sensed that something was wrong…

 

He gently replaced Louis’ oxygen mask, set the bottle aside, and held his boy tightly while he slept.   

 

* * *

 

On the third day of Louis’ hospital stay, Anne brought Niall to see Harry. Nick was staying with Louis so that Harry could spend some time with his other baby while still being close by to his sick one.

 

He met his mother outside of the Classified Babies Ward. Niall was holding her hand, but as soon as he saw Harry he let to and ran forward.

 

“Hows my sweet baby boy doing?” Harry asked, holding his arms open for Niall. The baby was quick to return the hug, and Harry lifted him up with ease, settling the little on his hip.

 

“He’s been an absolute saint,” Anne said. “We went out to have a little treat for lunch, didn’t we love?”

 

“Oh really?” Harry kissed Niall’s head. “Where did you go, baby?”

 

“Nandos,” Niall answered, tilting his face up in order to kiss Harry’s chin.

 

“How yummy!” Harry said. “You’re a lucky boy, because Daddy’s going to buy you a treat in the cafeteria too. Then we can go to the gift shop and pick out a present for Louis. How does that sound?”

 

“Yeah!” Niall perked up. “Daddy, I made Lou-Lou a card. Nanna, did you bring it?”

 

“I sure did sweetheart, it’s tucked into my bag. When we get to the cafeteria we’ll show it to Daddy, does that sound good?”

 

“Okay,” Niall agreed, “It has green glitter Daddy, Lou’s favorite! And I drew a picture of a puppy inside, the one we saw at the park.”

 

Harry let Niall chat animatedly to him on the way to the cafeteria. Once there, he ordered the three of them milkshakes. Niall’s was mint flavored with a large glob of whipped cream and a cherry on top. Because Niall had trouble with straws, Harry fed him bites of the shake with a plastic spoon.

 

“Our new neighbors are hoping to adopt a little soon,” Anne made conversation through their treats. “They’re a mommy and daddy, both seem very nice. I told them all about the boys, and showed pictures of course.”

 

“That’s lovely, now when we visit the boys will have a playmate,” Harry said, wiping a runny stream of ice cream from Niall’s chin with his thumb. “We need some napkins.”

 

It was refreshing, being able to spend time with Niall. Even though he was rather put out at not being able to see his brother, once they made it to the gift shop he was immediately cheered.

 

“Should we get him a stuffy?” Harry asked, gesturing to the shelves that contained numerous stuffed animals. Niall went over to inspect them, picking up each one and hugging it for testing. Finally he held up a fuzzy bear wearing a bathrobe, with a small towelette folded over his arm that read ‘Get Well Soon’.

 

“What a perfect choice!” Anne praised.

 

“Can...Can we get flowers too, please?” Niall asked after a moment of hesitation. “Pretty ones?”

 

“Let’s see what they have for flowers,” Harry said. “I think that’s a wonderful idea.”

 

A few minutes later, together they picked out a bouquet of yellow roses, which would certainly brighten up the room and cheer Louis up. Unfortunately now that they had their gifts, it was time for Niall to go home.

 

“Why can’t I see Louis?” Niall clung to Harry’s sleeve. “Why? Please Daddy, I wanna see ‘im!”

 

“I know you do angel,” Harry kissed Niall’s hand. “It’s the rules, sweetheart. Too many visitors could make Louis get even more sick. We don’t want that, do we?”

 

The strict ‘no littles allowed’ policy in the Classified Babies Ward was put in place for that very reason. Littles had weaker immune systems, and they also carried and spread germs more prominently.

 

Harry walked with them to the car, helping to buckle Niall into his carseat. Niall’s lower lip was still wobbly as Anne got into the driver’s seat. Harry hated leaving him, but he knew that his baby was in good hands. She had mentioned taking Niall to the park and feeding the ducks, an activity that Harry knew the baby loved.

 

Still, he couldn't wait until both he and Louis could return home, and they could be together as a family again.

 

* * *

 

The following morning, Harry made a trip home, both to use his own shower and also to surprise Niall. It was worth it, being able to see his baby’s face when he woke up to him. Harry had taken the time to dress Niall, make him pancakes, and read him a story before he left.

 

When Harry returned to the hospital, Nick had Louis in his lap, and the room’s telly was playing on the little network. Louis was sucking on a paci (his oxygen mask replaced with small tubes under his nose) and holding his new teddy bear, fingers curled tightly into the fur.

 

“Look who’s up and about!” Harry smoothed back Louis’ hair and took a seat next to the duo. Being home, even if it was for less than an hour, had given Harry anxiety. He did, however, feel very refreshed now that he was clean and wearing new clothes.

 

“Daddy,” Louis reached out for him, and Nick dutifully transferred the baby into Harry’s lap.

 

“Hi darling, how do you feel?”

 

“Yucky,” Louis answered. “Wanna go home. Can we go now, Daddy?”

 

“It’s up to the doctor my love,” Harry replied. Louis looked expectantly to Nick, because he knew that he was a doctor.

 

“It’s up to a different doctor,” Nick said, amused. “However, if I had to decide, I would say soon. You’re doing much better now that the medicine is working.”

 

When Greg came to check on Louis soon after lunchtime, he was very pleased with the results.

 

“Wow buddy, you sure are strong, fighting those yucky germs!” He told Louis, and then turned to Harry. “I think we’ll keep him just one more night, and then he can be discharged in the morning so long as everything stays how it is. You’ll have some strict home-care instructions to follow, but he’s well on the way to recovery.”

 

“That sounds perfect,” Harry said. “Thank you so much doctor, for everything you’ve done.”

 

* * *

 

Louis was dressed in his favorite pajamas, the footie ones with cartoon chocolate chip cookies on them. For the first time in about five days, he was completely free of any sort of hospital gear. He almost looked like himself, save for the paleness and general sickly look.

 

“I heard you’re going home today sweet pea!” Nurse Carissa announced herself, coming into the room with a wheelchair. “We’re going to miss you!”

 

Louis’ room was filled with goodies and get well presents. It was only natural, as Louis was a very likable baby. Both he and Niall were well known and admired in the classified baby community. Many of Louis’ friends from play group sent get well soon cards, flowers, and other little trinkets. ‘Auntie Gemmie’ had sent Louis a large assortment of candy. Louis still didn’t have his appetite back fully, but he’d told Nick to bring it home for Niall.

 

“I get to see my Niall!” Louis told her. “An’ my nanna, my crib, my cereal, my daddy’s slippers…”

 

Louis continued to ramble on about household items while Harry helped button his jacket up. He was so relieved to be able to go home, with Louis in a manageable condition. Even though he was being discharged, Louis was nowhere near to being completely healthy again.

 

He would need lots of rest, and a stronger prescription of the nebulizer. Instead of just a nightly dose before bedtime, Louis would need it three times a day. Nick had also bought a humidifier to keep in the boys’ nursery, which he said would help aid with loosening the remaining mucus in Louis’ lungs.

 

“You’re officially all set,” Carissa said. “Want to hop on in the wheelchair?”

 

Louis gnawed on his thumb for a moment. “Can- Can Daddy carry me?”

 

“Of course,” Harry had Louis in his arms straight away.

 

“Love you Daddy,” Louis snuggled close to him, arms wrapped tight around Harry’s neck. “You’re my superhero.”

 

“I love you too sweetpea,” Harry kissed him. “Dunno if I’m a superhero though.”

 

“You are,” Louis insisted. “It was really scary when my chest was too tight, and my coughies wouldn’t stop. But then you came and helped me. I think so...it’s hard to ‘member. Love you so much Daddy, you’re my best Daddy in the world.”

 

It was strange, hearing it from a different perspective. Before, Harry could only think of how badly he’d messed up that night, with the monitor and mistaking Louis’ illness for the beginnings of a cold.

 

To hear it from Louis, however, helped ease his conscious a little.

 

“Thank you baby,” He whispered. “I’ll always be there to help you, it’s my job. You’re my best baby boy, you and Niall both.”

 

Perhaps, Harry realized to himself, he wasn’t the worst daddy in the world.

 

Despite this conclusion, he would still try to better himself. The next time Louis or Niall (but Louis especially because of his asthma) got a cough, he would bring them to the doctor’s office without any waiting.

 

Being a caregiver wasn’t the easiest job in the world, but it was definitely the most fulfilling one. He simply couldn’t imagine a life without his boys.

 

Holding Louis tightly, Harry ventured out of the hospital to where Nick and Niall were waiting, parked by the entrance.

 

  
Everything would be okay.

* * *

Check out some Day by Day, Night by Night facts/snippets [here](https://bashfulbabybottlepop.tumblr.com/post/158608758133/day-by-day-night-by-night-fact-list-3) if you enjoy the series! 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Any comments would be lovely, as I rely greatly upon feedback, whether it be good or bad.
> 
> I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
> 
> <3


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